In Pictures: Battle of the Banners

Members of the Islamist Al-Nour Party hold a public conference in support of ex-army chief and presidential candidate Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi in Egypt’s northern port city of Alexandria on 20 May 2014. The Salafi party is securing its place in the political scene, but is losing supporters by backing Al-Sisi, who has launched a crackdown on their former Islamist allies, the Muslim Brotherhood. (AFP Photo / Ahmed Arab)

Posters of Egyptian ex-army chief and leading presidential candidate Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi with graffiti on them, reading “Against you” in Arabic, are seen on the 6th of October bridge in Cairo on 21 May 2014. (AFP Photo / Khaled Desouki)

An Egyptian man stands next to campaign posters of Egyptian ex-army chief and leading presidential candidate Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi in Fayoum some 100 kilometres south of Cairo on 20 May 2014. (AFP Photo / Mahmoud Khaled)

Egyptian men sit next to defaced campaign poster of Egypt’s Hamdeen Sabahy, the sole rival to the former army chief expected to romp to victory in next week’s presidential election, in Fayoum some 100 kilometres south of Cairo on 20 May 2014. The veteran leftist leader regularly invokes the slogans of “Bread, freedom and social justice” chanted by millions during the uprising that ousted strongman Hosni Mubarak, in campaigning across the country for the 26-27 May poll. (AFP Photo / Mahmoud Khaled)

Egyptian women sit next to defaced campaign posters of Egypt’s Hamdeen Sabahy, the sole rival to the former army chief expected to romp to victory in next week’s presidential election, in Fayoum some 100 kilometres south of Cairo on 20 May 2014. The veteran leftist leader regularly invokes the slogans of “Bread, freedom and social justice” chanted by millions during the uprising that ousted strongman Hosni Mubarak, in campaigning across the country for the 26-27 May poll. (AFP Photo / Mahmoud Khaled)

A combo made of file images of Egyptian presidential hopeful Hamdeen Sabahy speaking with an AFP journalist on 22 February 2014 in Cairo and Egypt’s ex-army chief and leading presidential candidate Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi giving his first television interview since announcing his candidacy in the Egyptian capital on 4 May 2014. Sabahy, the sole rival to Sisi expected to romp to victory in next week’s presidential election, is a defender of the ideals of the 2011 revolution. (AFP Photo / Mohamed El-Shahed / STR)

An Egyptian man walks in the campaign headquarters of Egyptian ex-army chief and leading presidential candidate Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi in Fayoum some 100 kilometres south of Cairo on 20 May 2014. Al-Sisi is heavily favoured to win the 26-27 May presidential elections. (AFP Photo / Mahmoud Khaled)

An Egyptian man walks in the campaign headquarters of Egyptian ex-army chief and leading presidential candidate Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi in Fayoum some 100 kilometres south of Cairo on 20 May 2014. (AFP Photo / Mahmoud Khaled)

The Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE) condemned Monday the suggested amendments to the law regulating university affairs, describing it as a severe violation to the independence of universities and academic freedom.(AFP Photo / Khaled Desouki)

A campaign poster of Egyptian ex-army chief and leading presidential candidate Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi hangs on a building in FayoumFayoum some 100 kilometres south of Cairo on 20 May 2014. (AFP Photo / Mahmoud Khaled)

An Egyptian boy dressed in army clothes flashes the sign for victory as he stands with his mother, who is holding a poster bearing an image of Egypt’s ex-army chief and presidential candidate Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi during a rally in support of Al-Sisi on the Qasr Al-Nil Bridge in Cairo on 20 May 2014. Al-Sisi is expected to romp home in this month’s presidential election, but his challenge will be fighting poverty and rebuilding the shattered economy. (AFP Photo / Khaled Desouki)

Egyptians wave their national flag and a poster bearing an image of Egypt’s ex-army chief and presidential candidate Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi during a rally in support of Al-Sisi on the Qasr Al-Nil Bridge in Cairo on 20 May 2014. Al-Sisi is expected to romp home in this month’s presidential election, but his challenge will be fighting poverty and rebuilding the shattered economy. (AFP Photo / Khaled Desouki)

The competing campaigns of presidential candidates Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and Hamdeen Sabahy have intensified going into the final days of campaigning before the poll scheduled for 26 and 27 May.

While Al-Sisi has not made any public appearances during his campaign, posters supporting his likely election to the presidency have featured prominently throughout Cairo and other parts of the country.

Nasserist politician Hamdeen Sabahy, a dramatic underdog in the elections, has intensely campaigned in a number of governorates and has relied on grassroots support to gain votes and funding. Many of the posters put up by Sabahy’s campaign have been defaced and torn.

Sabahy and his campaign have accused state institutions and media of conveying bias in favour of Al-Sisi, who won a sweeping landslide of votes from Egyptians abroad, who voted from 15-19 May.